Computer-Vision-Based Sensing Technologies for Livestock Body Dimension Measurement: A Survey.

Livestock's live body dimensions are a pivotal indicator of economic output. Manual measurement is labor-intensive and time-consuming, often eliciting stress responses in the livestock. With the advancement of computer technology, the techniques for livestock live body dimension measurement have progressed rapidly, yielding significant research achievements. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the recent advancements in livestock live body dimension measurement, emphasizing the crucial role of computer-vision-based sensors. The discussion covers three main aspects: sensing data acquisition, sensing data processing, and sensing data analysis. The common techniques and measurement procedures in, and the current research status of, live body dimension measurement are introduced, along with a comparative analysis of their respective merits and drawbacks. Livestock data acquisition is the initial phase of live body dimension measurement, where sensors are employed as data collection equipment to obtain information conducive to precise measurements. Subsequently, the acquired data undergo processing, leveraging techniques such as 3D vision technology, computer graphics, image processing, and deep learning to calculate the measurements accurately. Lastly, this paper addresses the existing challenges within the domain of livestock live body dimension measurement in the livestock industry, highlighting the potential contributions of computer-vision-based sensors. Moreover, it predicts the potential development trends in the realm of high-throughput live body dimension measurement techniques for livestock.

Infrared and Visible Image Fusion Technology and Application: A Review.

The images acquired by a single visible light sensor are very susceptible to light conditions, weather changes, and other factors, while the images acquired by a single infrared light sensor generally have poor resolution, low contrast, low signal-to-noise ratio, and blurred visual effects. The fusion of visible and infrared light can avoid the disadvantages of two single sensors and, in fusing the advantages of both sensors, significantly improve the quality of the images. The fusion of infrared and visible images is widely used in agriculture, industry, medicine, and other fields. In this study, firstly, the architecture of mainstream infrared and visible image fusion technology and application was reviewed; secondly, the application status in robot vision, medical imaging, agricultural remote sensing, and industrial defect detection fields was discussed; thirdly, the evaluation indicators of the main image fusion methods were combined into the subjective evaluation and the objective evaluation, the properties of current mainstream technologies were then specifically analyzed and compared, and the outlook for image fusion was assessed; finally, infrared and visible image fusion was summarized. The results show that the definition and efficiency of the fused infrared and visible image had been improved significantly. However, there were still some problems, such as the poor accuracy of the fused image, and irretrievably lost pixels. There is a need to improve the adaptive design of the traditional algorithm parameters, to combine the innovation of the fusion algorithm and the optimization of the neural network, so as to further improve the image fusion accuracy, reduce noise interference, and improve the real-time performance of the algorithm.

Transcriptome Profiling Provides Insight into the Genes in Carotenoid Biosynthesis during the Mesocarp and Seed Developmental Stages of Avocado (Persea americana).

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is an economically important crop because of its high nutritional value. However, the absence of a sequenced avocado reference genome has hindered investigations of secondary metabolism. For next-generation high-throughput transcriptome sequencing, we obtained 365,615,152 and 348,623,402 clean reads as well as 109.13 and 104.10 Gb of sequencing data for avocado mesocarp and seed, respectively, during five developmental stages. High-quality reads were assembled into 100,837 unigenes with an average length of 847.40 bp (N50 = 1725 bp). Additionally, 16,903 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected, 17 of which were related to carotenoid biosynthesis. The expression levels of most of these 17 DEGs were higher in the mesocarp than in the seed during five developmental stages. In this study, the avocado mesocarp and seed transcriptome were also sequenced using single-molecule long-read sequencing to acquired 25.79 and 17.67 Gb clean data, respectively. We identified 233,014 and 238,219 consensus isoforms in avocado mesocarp and seed, respectively. Furthermore, 104 and 59 isoforms were found to correspond to the putative 11 carotenoid biosynthetic-related genes in the avocado mesocarp and seed, respectively. The isoform numbers of 10 out of the putative 11 genes involved in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway were higher in the mesocarp than those in the seed. Besides, alpha- and beta-carotene contents in the avocado mesocarp and seed during five developmental stages were also measured, and they were higher in the mesocarp than in the seed, which validated the results of transcriptome profiling. Gene expression changes and the associated variations in gene dosage could influence carotenoid biosynthesis. These results will help to further elucidate carotenoid biosynthesis in avocado.

[Establishment and identification of human cervical cancer cell line C33A stably expressing human papillomavirus type 58 E6E7 fusion gene].

The study was performed to construct a human cervical cancer cell line C33A which can stably express HPV58E6E7 fusion gene. Firstly, C33A cells were transfected with the recombinant lentivirus LV-HPV58E6E7 which contained HPV58E6E7 fusion gene, and the stably transfected cells (LV-HPV58E6E7/C33A) were screened out by flow cytometry. MTT was used to observe the growth of LV-HPV58E6E7/C33A cells and flow cytometry was carried out to detect the cell cycle. LV-HPV58E6E7/C33A cells were inoculated into the left armpits of nude mice. Then, the transcription and expression of HPV58E6E7 fusion gene was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. The results showed that HPV58E6E7 fusion gene can promote the proliferation of C33A cells. HPV58E6E7 fusion gene can be stably transcripted and expressed in vaccinated nude mice. The conclusion indicated that we successfully established a cervical cancer cell line LV-HPV58E6E7/C33A which can stably express HPV58E6E7 fusion gene. This cell line will provide an antigen cell line for the immune effect detection of HPV58 therapeutic vaccine.

Lipophilic but not hydrophilic statin functionally inhibit volume-activated chloride channels by inhibiting NADPH oxidase in monocytes.

Volume-activated Cl- channels (VACCs) can be activated by hypotonic solutions and have been identified in many cell types. Here, we investigated the effects of different statins on VACCs in monocytes. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings demonstrated that a hypotonic solution induced 5-nitro-2- (3-phenylpropylamino) benzoic acid (NPPB)- and 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2, 2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS)-sensitive VACC currents in human peripheral monocytes and RAW 264.7 cells. The VACC currents were inhibited by the lipophilic statin (simvastatin) but not by the hydrophilic simvastatin acid and pravastatin. A low-molecular-weight superoxide anion scavenger (tiron, 1 mM) and inhibitor of NADPH oxidase (DPI 10 µM) was able to abolish the VACC currents. A hypotonic solution increased the reactive oxygen species (ROS) detected by the fluorescence of dichlorodihydrofluorescein (DCF), which was abolished by tiron and DPI. NPPB, DIDS, and simvastatin but not pravastatin decreased the fluorescence of DCF. Simvastatin could not further decrease VACC currents when pretreated with tiron or DPI, whereas exogenous H2O2 (100 µM), increased the VACC currents and overcame the blockade of VACC currents by simvastatin. Functionally, hypotonic solution increased the TNF-α mRNA expression, which could be decreased by tiron, DPI, NPPB, DIDS and simvastatin but not pravastatin. However, simvastatin could not decrease the TNF-α expression further when pretreatment with tiron, DPI, NPPB or DIDS. We conclude that lipophilic (simvastatin) rather than hydrophilic statin inhibit VACCs and decrease hyposmolality induced inflammation in monocytes by inhibiting NADPH oxidase.

Isolation and characterization of an α-glucosidase inhibitor from Musa spp. (Baxijiao) flowers.

The use of α-glucosidase inhibitors is considered to be an effective strategy in the treatment of diabetes. Using a bioassay-guided fractionation technique, five Bacillus stearothermophilus α-glucosidase inhibitors were isolated from the flowers of Musa spp. (Baxijiao). Using NMR spectroscopy analysis they were identified as vanillic acid (1), ferulic acid (2), ß-sitosterol (3), daucosterol (4) and 9-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-2-methoxyphenalen-1-one (5). The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of compounds 1-5 were 2004.58, 1258.35, 283.67, 247.35 and 3.86 mg/L, respectively. Compared to a known α-glucosidase inhibitor (acarbose, IC50=999.31 mg/L), compounds 3, 4 and 5 showed a strong α-glucosidase inhibitory effect. A Lineweaver-Burk plot indicated that compound 5 is a mixed-competitive inhibitor, while compounds 3 and 4 are competitive inhibitors. The inhibition constants (Ki) of compounds 3, 4 and 5 were 20.09, 2.34 and 4.40 mg/L, respectively. Taken together, these data show that the compounds 3, 4 and 5 are potent α-glucosidase inhibitors.

[Anti-inflammatory effects of apoprotein AI are mediated via modulating macrophage polarity].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of high density lipoprotein (HDL) by observing the effects of apoprotein (apo)AI, a major protein component of HDL, on the inflammatory macrophage cell polarity. METHODS: Cultured mice marrow-derived macrophages were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide and interferon after 10 µg/ml of apoAI were added to the macrophages for 24 hours. The expression of membrane molecules CD16/32, CD206 were detected by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). ELISA was used to detect the secretion of IL-10 and IL-12. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of TLR4, MyD88 and IRF5. RESULTS: Compared to macrophages stimulated by interferon and lipopolysaccharide but without pretreatment with apoAI, pre-incubation with apoAI significantly downregulated the expression of CD16/32 (91.17% ± 1.99% vs.50.47% ± 1.02%, P < 0.05), IL-12 [(747.27 ± 3.74)pg/ml vs. (73.80 ± 4.56)pg/ml, P < 0.05], upregulated the expression of CD206(0.33% ± 0.12% vs. 3.00% ± 0.36%, P < 0.05), IL -10 expression [(23.56 ± 4.30) pg/ml vs.(32.91 ± 2.47) pg/ml, P < 0.05], and reduced the mRNA expression of TLR4 (1.000 ± 0.025 vs.0.708 ± 0.003, P < 0.05) , MyD88 (1.591 ± 0.005 vs. 1.341 ± 0.005, P < 0.05) , IRF5 (0.954 ± 0.005 vs. 0.463 ± 0.003, P < 0.05) . CONCLUSION: ApoAI enhances the switch of inflammatory macrophages to anti-inflammatory macrophages possibly through inhibiting TLR4-MyD88-IRF5 pathway.

Physicochemical changes and in vitro digestibility of three banana starches at different maturity stages.

This study aimed to compare the changes in physicochemical properties of the starch isolated from three banana cultivars (Musa AAA group, Cavendish subgroup; Musa ABB group, Pisang Awak subgroup; Musa AA group, Huangdijiao subgroup) at five different maturity stages. The results revealed both similarities and significant differences in micromorphology and physicochemical characteristics of the three banana varieties during different growth stages. Apparent amylose content and particle size of the three starches increased with the ripeness of banana. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed that starch particles of the three starches had different microscopic characteristics, and that banana starch morphology was basically unchanged at various growth stages. Moreover, the pasting and thermal properties of the banana starches were significantly different at various growth stages. The resistant starch content of the three banana cultivars was about 80% at all growth stages. Musa AAA group, Cavendish subgroup had the highest resistant starch content at stage Ⅴ. This study provides insights into the starch changes of three banana cultivars during ripening.

A lightweight cow mounting behavior recognition system based on improved YOLOv5s.

To improve the detection speed of cow mounting behavior and the lightness of the model in dense scenes, this study proposes a lightweight rapid detection system for cow mounting behavior. Using the concept of EfficientNetV2, a lightweight backbone network is designed using an attention mechanism, inverted residual structure, and depth-wise separable convolution. Next, a feature enhancement module is designed using residual structure, efficient attention mechanism, and Ghost convolution. Finally, YOLOv5s, the lightweight backbone network, and the feature enhancement module are combined to construct a lightweight rapid recognition model for cow mounting behavior. Multiple cameras were installed in a barn with 200 cows to obtain 3343 images that formed the cow mounting behavior dataset. Based on the experimental results, the inference speed of the model put forward in this study is as high as 333.3 fps, the inference time per image is 4.1 ms, and the model mAP value is 87.7%. The mAP value of the proposed model is shown to be 2.1% higher than that of YOLOv5s, the inference speed is 0.47 times greater than that of YOLOv5s, and the model weight is 2.34 times less than that of YOLOv5s. According to the obtained results, the model proposed in the current work shows high accuracy and inference speed and acquires the automatic detection of cow mounting behavior in dense scenes, which would be beneficial for the all-weather real-time monitoring of multi-channel cameras in large cattle farms.

Effect of Predry-treatment on the bioactive constituents and quality of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) oil from three cultivars growing in China.

Avocado oil has gained a lot of favor in foods and cosmetics because of its high-quality fatty acid composition and bioactive components. This study aimed to compare the effect of various predry-treatments on the yield and quality of avocado oil from three Chinese avocado (Persea americana Mill.) varieties (Hass, Reed, and Pinkerton). The results showed that drying methods had significant effect on the avocado oil yield and its composition. Among the three drying methods the highest yield was obtained by freeze drying, and Hass showed the highest yield in the three avocado varieties with its oil owning the lowest peroxide and anisidine value. Reed oil owned the highest levels of functional micronutrients (e.g., tocopherols, phenolics, squalene). Vacuum drying resulted in higher concentrations of tocopherols, phytosterols, phenolics, squalene, and thus rendered greater DPPH and ABTS scavenging activity. These results are important to improve the quality of Chinese avocado oil.

MiMYB10 transcription factor regulates biosynthesis and accumulation of carotenoid involved genes in mango fruit.

Carotenoids are essential and beneficial substances for both plant and human health. Identifying the regulatory network of these pigments is necessary for improving fruit quality and commodity value. In this study, we performed integrative analyses of transcriptome data from two different type fruits, ripening peel color at green ('Neelum' mango) and red ('Irwin' mango). Specifically, we found that MiMYB10 transcription level was highly associated with mango peel color. Further, silencing MiMYB10 homologous gene in tomato fruits resulted in lower carotenoid and anthocyanin content. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and dual-luciferase clarified that MiMYB10 regulates the carotenoid biosynthesis gene MiPDS (phytoene desaturase gene) in a direct manner. On the other hand, MiMYB10 activates the expression of carotenoid biosynthesis genes (PSY, Z-ISO, CRTISO, LCYE) and chlorophyll degradation gene (SGR1), promoting the accumulation of carotenoid, accelerating chlorophyll degradation, and controlling peel color. In summary, this study identified important roles of MiMYB10 in pigment regulatory and provided new options for breeding strategies aiming to improve fruit quality.

Pannexin 1 forms an anion-selective channel.

Pannexin 1 (Panx1) is expressed in various mammalian tissues including the brain and immune cells. Here, we present evidence that Panx1 when expressed in mammalian cells, forms anion-selective channels, with a rank order of permeabilities: NO (3) (-)> I(-) > Br (-)> Cl (-) > F (-)>> aspartate (-)≈ glutamate (-)≈ gluconate(-). Single-channel Panx1-mediated currents have a unitary conductance around 68 pS. Our results show that Panx1 assembles into a membrane anion channel with a relatively low single-channel conductance.

Association between human cartilage glycoprotein 39 (YKL-40) and arterial stiffness in essential hypertension.

BACKGROUND: YKL-40, a proposed marker of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, is associated with atherosclerosis and an increased cardiovascular mortality in the general population. However, the relationship between YKL-40 and arterial stiffness in hypertensive patients has not been adequately assessed. METHODS: The relationship between serum levels of YKL-40 and arterial stiffness was evaluated in 93 essential hypertensive subjects and 80 normal subjects. Essential hypertensive subjects were divided into two groups based upon urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR): nonmicroalbuminuric group, (ACR <30 mg/g, n = 50) and microalbuminuric group (ACR ≥ 30 mg/g, n = 43). Large artery wall stiffness was assessed by measuring femoral arterial stiffness and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV). Serum levels of YKL-40 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: The study demonstrated that YKL-40,cf-PWV and femoral arterial stiffness were increased significantly (P<0.05) in the hypertensive group compared with normal controls. These measurements were also increased significantly ( P<0.05) in the microalbuminuric group compared with the nonmicroalbuminuric group. YKL-40 was positively correlated with cf-PWV( r = 0.44, P = 0.000) and femoral arterial stiffness ( r = 0.42, P =0.001). Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that YKL-40 was the impact factor of arterial stiffness ( P<0.05). CONCLUSION: YKL-40 levels are elevated in essential hypertension subjects with an independent association between increasing YKL-40 levels and increasing arterial stiffness. The study suggests it played a positive role of YKL-40 in the progressing vascular complications in patients with essential hypertension.

Naringin attenuates acute myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury via miR- 126/GSK-3ß/ß-catenin signaling pathway.

INTRODUCTION: Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the mechanisms contributing to the high mortality rate of acute myocardial infarction. PURPOSE: This study intended to study the role of naringin in cardiac I/R injury. METHODS: AC16 cells (human cardiomyocyte cell line) were subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation/recovery (OGD/R) treatment and/or naringin pretreatment. Then, the apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry and Western blotting. The concentration of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. How naringin influenced microRNA expression was examined by microarrays and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Dual luciferase reporter assay was employed to evaluate the interaction between miR-126 and GSK-3ß. The GSK-3ß/ß-catenin signaling pathway was examined by Western blotting. Finally, rat myocardial I/R model was created to examine the effects of naringin in vivo. RESULTS: Naringin pretreatment significantly decreased the cytokine release and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes exposed to OGD/R. Bioinformatical analysis revealed that naringin upregulated miR-126 expression considerably. Also, it was found that miR-126 can bind GSK-3ß and downregulate its expression, suggesting that naringin could decrease GSK-3ß activity. Next, we discovered that naringin increased ß-catenin activity in cardiomyocytes treated with OGD/R by inhibiting GSK-3ß expression. Our animal experiments showed that naringin pre-treatment or miR-126 agomir alleviated myocardial I/R. CONCLUSIONS: Naringin preconditioning can reduce myocardial I/R injury via regulating miR-126/GSK-3ß/ß-catenin signaling pathway, and this chemical can be used to treat acute myocardial infarction.

Construction and immune effect of an HPV16/18/58 trivalent therapeutic adenovirus vector vaccine.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to prepare candidate vaccines for cervical cancer immunotherapy by inserting the fused genes of human papillomavirus (HPV)16/18/58 mE6E7 lacking transforming activity into an adenovirus vector and to verify its efficiency in model mice with tumor expressing the associated HPV genes. METHODS: The E6/E7 genes of HPV16/18/58 were point-mutated to abolish their transforming activity, and adenovirus (AD)-HPV16/18/58 mE6E7 adenovirus vaccine was constructed. The immune effect of the adenovirus vaccine against HPV16/18/58-type tumors was analyzed by tumor morphology, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, enzyme-linked immunospot and specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and T lymphocyte subsets. RESULTS: The HPV16/18/58 mE6E7 plasmid containing point mutations was verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), enzyme digestion and electrophoresis, and gene sequencing. qRT-PCR and Western blots verified that AD-HPV16/18/58 mE6E7 could express the HPV16 mE6E7, HPV18 mE6E7 and HPV58 mE6E7 fusion genes and proteins in cells. The results of animal experiments were as follows: In the vaccine group, the tumors formed later, the incubation period was longer, the growth was slower, growth was inhibited, and the survival period was significantly prolonged. The immunological results all showed that the vaccine could induce effective humoral and cellular immunity in mice with three types of tumors, compared with the phosphate buffered saline (PBS) group and the adenovirus-negative control (AD-NC) group, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: We successfully constructed the HPV16/18/58 trivalent therapeutic adenovirus vaccine AD-HPV16/18/58 mE6E7. The AD-HPV16/18/58 mE6E7 adenovirus vaccine can protect immunized mice to a certain extent from TC-1, U14/LV-HPV18 E6E7 and U14/LV-HPV58 E6E7 cells, which contain HPV16, 18 and 58 E6 and/or E7 genes, respectively.

Aberrant ROS Served as an Acquired Vulnerability of Cisplatin-Resistant Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer has become a global health issue in recent decades. Approximately 80-85% of cases are non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite the high rate of resistance, cisplatin-base chemotherapy is still the main treatment for NSCLC patients. Thus, overcoming cisplatin resistance is urgently needed in NSCLC therapy. In this study, we identify NADPH metabolism and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels as the main causes accounting for cisplatin resistance. Based on a small panel consisting of common chemotherapy drugs or compounds, APR-246 is proved to be an effective compound targeting cisplatin-resistant NSCLC cells. APR-246 specially inhibits proliferation and colony formation of cisplatin-resistant cells. In details, APR-246 can significantly cause G0/G1 accumulation and S phase arrest of cisplatin resistant cells and gives rise to severe mitochondria dysfunction as well as elevated apoptosis. Further study proves that it is the aberrant ROS levels as well as NRF2/SLC7A11/GSH axis dysfunction accounting for the specific antitumor effects of APR-246. Scavenging ROS with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) disrupts the inhibitory effect of APR-246 on cisplatin-resistant cells. Mechanistically, NRF2 is specifically degraded by the proteasome following its own ubiquitylation in APR-246-treated cisplatin-resistant cells, which in turn decreases NRF2/SLC7A11/GSH axis activity. Our study provides new insights into the biology driving cisplatin resistance of lung cancer and highlights APR-246 as a potential therapeutic reagent for overcoming cisplatin resistance.

A case report of anaplastic thyroid cancer and papillary thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis: an unusual presentation as an invasive hypopharyngeal mass.

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is a rare undifferentiated tumour of the thyroid follicular epithelium. It almost always develops from a pre-existing well-differentiated thyroid cancer with a co-existent thyroid malignancy varying from 5 to 17% . The co-existence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) with anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare occurrence in metastases outside the primary thyroid lesion. Traditionally, this has been regarded as an aggressive form of cancer associated with a dismal prognosis. Recently, the focus has shifted to the development of novel therapies based on the availability of comprehensive genomic profiling platforms (CGP) with a rapid turn-around to identify molecular aberrations in tumours which acts as potential therapeutic targets. In the United Kingdom, we report the case of a 60-year-old woman with an unusual presentation of (metastatic) anaplastic thyroid carcinoma and concomitant papillary thyroid cancer metastasis within a contralateral lymph node. This was initially perceived as a left pyriform fossa mass involving and compressing her left hemi-larynx on clinical and radiological examination. Following the identification of BRAF V600E mutation on CGP, she was started on targeted therapy with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib and demonstrated excellent clinical and radiological response following 7 months of treatment. She has subsequently undergone total thyroidectomy alongside with bilateral neck dissection, and is due to start radioactive iodine treatment to reduce the risk of recurrence of disease.

Association study of hypertension susceptibility genes ITGA9, MOV10, and CACNB2 with preeclampsia in Chinese Han population.

OBJECTIVE: Preeclampsia (PE) is a disorder that occurs during the pregnancy and could affect the maternal and perinatal mortality as well as morbidity. The aim of our study is to investigate the associations between the hypertension susceptibility genes ITGA9, MOV10 and CACNB2 with PE in Chinese Han population. METHODS: A case-control study including 178 PE patients and 202 healthy controls was conducted to assess the associations between three loci (ITGA9 rs155524, MOV10 rs2932538 and CACNB2 rs4373814) and PE. The TaqMan probe assay was applied for genotyping in our study. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to detect the mRNA expression levels of ITGA9, MOV10 and CACNB2. ELISA was carried out to detect the concentration of serum sFlt-1 or PLGF. RESULTS: Our study detected no significant differences in allelic frequencies of three SNPs between PE patients and healthy controls. In the genetic model, the results showed that the patients with ITGA9 rs155524 GA or AA genotypes had a higher risk of PE development compared to those with GG genotype in codominant model. And PE patients had a higher frequency of GA + AA genotypes based on the dominant model. Subgroup analysis showed ITGA9 rs155524 was associated with early-onset PE but not with late-onset PE. No association was observed between MOV10 and CACNB2 with PE in any genetic model and subgroup analysis. Quantitative real-time PCR results showed that ITGA9 mRNA expression level was apparently increased in the placental tissues of PE patients. In addition, ITGA9 expression levels of GA + AA subjects were apparently higher than that in the genotype GG of placental tissues. sFlt-1/PLGF ratio was higher in GA + AA subjects than that in GG subjects. Regression analysis revealed that ratio of sFlt-1/PLGF was positively correlated with ITGA9 mRNA expression level. CONCLUSION: This study has identified ITGA9 is a promising candidate susceptibility gene for early-onset PE. Our findings demonstrated that the high expression of ITGA9 might be associated with an increased risk of PE.

In-depth analysis of potential PaAP2/ERF transcription factor related to fatty acid accumulation in avocado (Persea americana Mill.) and functional characterization of two PaAP2/ERF genes in transgenic tomato.

Fatty acids in avocado fruit are crucial components influencing taste as well as fruit quality and nutritional value. Changes to fatty acid contents and concentrations in avocado fruit are important because of the associated effects on sensory properties. Hence, plant physiologists and molecular biologists interested in elucidating the influence of transcription factors on fatty acid accumulation in avocado fruit. In this study, APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor (AP2/ERF) family members in avocado (Persea americana Mill.) were systematically and comprehensively analyze to identify potential PaAP2/ERF genes related to fatty acid accumulation. The results of bioinformatics analysis and the expression profiles of the AP2/ERF members suggested that 10 highly expressed PaAP2/ERF genes may encode transcription factors with functions related to the fatty acid accumulation in the avocado mesocarp. Furthermore, PaWRI1 and PaWRI2, two AP2/ERF transcription factor genes in avocado, were functionally characterized regarding their effects on fatty acid accumulation. The transcriptome and biochemical analyses of PaWRI1-2-overexpressing transgenic tomato plants revealed the up-regulated expression of 17 unigenes related to fatty acid synthesis and triacylglycerol assembly as well as increased fatty acid contents relative to the corresponding levels in the wild-type plants. In contrast, the overexpression of PaWRI2 in transgenic tomato plants up-regulated the expression of only six unigenes associated with fatty acid synthesis and triacylglycerol assembly and negligibly affected fatty acid accumulation when compared with wild-type plants. This systematic analysis provides a foundation for future studies regarding AP2/ERF functions associated with fatty acid accumulation.